Was one of the 20 original 'Goldwyn Girls', along with Betty Grable, Paulette Goddard, and Ann Sothern.

Her daughter Susan Ann Gilbert was born in 1933. She also had a son in 1941.

Portrayed soprano Jenny Lind in The Mighty Barnum (1934) and a character loosely based on Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.'s mistress Lillian Lorraine in The Great Ziegfeld (1936).

Very good friends with Cesar Romero.

Her promising "A" MGM status was hurt following the death of Irving Thalberg. She subsequently was relegated to "B" films.

Lovely but demure, and not especially ambitious or self-promoting, she was prodded by her parents, who were going through financial reversals, to skip her initial plans on a music education at UCLA and pursue film work.

Coached by Roger Edens her soprano voice was used to introduce the Cole Porter song "I've Got You Under My Skin" to film audiences in the MGM musical Born to Dance (1936), singing the song to James Stewart.